I'm quarter an American, quarter a Canadian, quarter an Australian, and quarter a Japanese. How about this? Could this be possibly accepted, with a Japanese? Hiro
Sorry, not at all idiomatic. If you left out all the articles and left the adjectives, that would be more typically how we would say that. Edit - see below on the use of "a quarter {adjective}" and "ø half {adjective}"
Do you mean 'I'm a quarter American, a quarter Canadian, a quarter Australian, and a quarter Japanese' is not used?
Oh, okay. IS used, I see. Does that lead to possibly being able to say simply 'I'm a quarter Japanese'? Or, 'I'm a half Japanese'?
Hi, Cagey. So the use of 'quarter' and and that of 'half' in this construct are different. Interesting!
Incidentally, you wouldn't say: I'm a half American and a half Japanese. I'm half an American and half a Japanese. I'm a half American. or I'm half an American, would you? I'm asking this because a friend of mine, born and raised in the U.S., uses them often. She uses Japanese at home.
Hi, You little ripper! So, in summary, it's either 'a quarter + ethnicity noun' or 'quarter + ethnicity adjective', and 'half ethnicity adjective.' Still interesting!
Additionally, I wondered if, in the case of 'quarter,' I am a three-quarter Japanese. and I am three-quarter Japanese. are okay, correct?
A lot of people might say, “I’m half Japanese and half American”, but saying that you are a quarter of any nationality isn’t that common. In my experience most people would say, “I have a bit of American, Japanese, Australian and Canadian in me” or “I have a mixed background - a bit of American, a bit of Canadian, a bit of Australian and a bit of Japanese”. Some people might jokingly say, “I’m a bit of a mongrel! A bit of Japanese, a bit of .........”.
This use of fractions seems very old-fashioned as well as unscientific. Far better to refer to mixed heritage or parentage. In any case, someone can be 100% Japanese ethnically and 100% American in terms of citizenship.
Thanks for your input, everone. Yes, racial mixture is advancing quite a bit. Everyone is mixted a lot. Hi, Loob. Then, I am a three-quarters Japanese is wrong???
I'm not Loob, but let's see if this helps you: a quarter=1 quarter three quarter= 3 quarters You cannot be "one three quarters" "a" is only used with " a (1) quarter".
Yes, it's wrong, as Marsianitoh says . In I'm a quarter Japanese, the "a" goes with "quarter", not with "Japanese". You get the same pattern if you use fractions with other adjectives: The bowl is half full. The bowl is a quarter full. The bowl is three-quarters full.
Thanks, both. But you would also say, "I'm quarter Japanese," without a, wouldn't you? Sorry I'm touching upon this and that.
This discussion is now more about fractions than race. A glass may be half full but it is not quarter full, it is a quarter full or one quarter full". This Ngram pot is revealing about articles before half or quarter. One-quarter is also used (in place of a quarter).
As in post #2, Julian says he would say 'I am quarter Japanese, and, Loob, you would not. Maybe it's another Big Pond devide???
(I learnt English on the same side of the pond as Loob, that's why my avatar says UK then US ) Nope - I retract that comment: I was focussing on article placement (and said "more typically" with respect to that) and then see #4 in particular The ngrams are particularly clear on this - we put an article in front of quarter but not half. In the case of the glass "Ngrams not found: is quarter full, is a half full"
When it comes to 'American,' I wonder if you still can't say I am a three-quarter American. I met a three-quarter American. (I know what is meant by American. Let's just put it away for now)
So it looks like you can't simply use the 'I met (a person)" construct. I met a man who is three-quarters American.
